This invention relates to screen printing presses in general and in particular, to a means for driving a squeegee and flood bar across a printing screen and alternately reversing their positions during respective print and flood cycles.
In a conventional screen printing operation after a printing cycle a pool of ink must be directed back by the flood bar across the screen towards the starting position of the squeegee in what is known as a flood stroke. The screen is placed in contact with the object being printed and the squeegee is lowered onto the screen while the flood bar is raised off the screen. The squeegee is then drawn back across the screen to force the ink through the screen onto the object in the areas desired and thereby print the message or artwork.
Various means have been devised to drive a squeegee and a flood bar mounted on what is often called the carriage, across the screen and reverse their relative vertical positions during the press cycle. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,501 to Bubley and Oltra, present a workable solution for flat bed presses. U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,118 to Green et al. and application Ser. No. 827,738 to Bubley et al. both teach a squeegee and flood bar apparatus for use with three dimensional presses, for printing of circular, oval or flat objects as desired.
It is with this latter type of printing press, often termed a universal printing press because of its capability of printing on both flat and curved surfaces, that the squeegee and flood bar actuator of the subject invention is intended to be used with. In addition to the abovementioned patents, U.S. Pat. No. 3,090,300 to DuBuit teaches the universal screen printing press of a type on which the subject invention may be used. Also, co-pending application Ser. No. 927,553 to Lala teaches a universal screen printing press as may utilize the squeegee and flood bar actuator of the subject invention.